For the fourth year in a row, an ensemble of Austin Ukulele Society members wowed the runners in the Keep Austin Weird 5K! Despite rain, heat and humidity, and loudspeakers close by, to paraphrase Tom Petty, “We did not back down!” It was a hot time for runners and strummers alike! MANY thanks to everyone who came out. Can’t wait til next year!
We’re looking forward to our July meeting, on Thursday the 14th!
Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!
The Austin Ukulele Society hosted another Ukulele Open Mic Night at the fabulous Rattle Inn, June 16. An incredible line-up of fantastic talent! A wonderful evening of friends and ukulele music!
As always, we’re looking forward to our July meeting, on Thursday the 14th!
Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!
Our June meeting was an especially great one, as over 130 members (and visitors from all three U.S. coasts!) learned to play a lovely and whimsical medley of Tin Pan Alley tunes.
“Bye Bye Blackbird” by Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon, 1926
“I’ll See You in My Dreams” by Isham Jones and Gus Kahn, 1924
“April Showers” by Louis Silvers and B.G. DeSylva, 1921
The group enjoyed keeping with what has become our June meeting tradition of going back nearly one hundred years to learn a few songs from a bygone but memorable era. Bob’s tips and chord transition exercises helped us get comfortable and ready to ease into playing the medley through, and we sounded great by the time we were ready to capture our performance.
You can download the lyrics and chords for this “Tin Pan Alley Medley” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project up on the wall for all to follow along).
We are thankful as always to the gifted musicians who shared their songs during the open mic part of the evening. We enjoyed a variety of delightful tunes by a lovely quintet (Margaret, Angela, Nancy, Deanna & Betsy), Walter, Shin, John & Helen, and Cranius.
And speaking of Ukulele Open Mic opportunities, we hope to see you on stage or in the audience at the Rattle Inn, on Thursday, June 16th!
As always, we’re looking forward to our July meeting, on Thursday the 14th!
Nearly 120 members of the Austin Ukulele Society had a blast rocking out to the classic KISS hit, “Rock ‘n’ Roll All Nite” at the May meeting. Bob took the group through several drills to get everyone comfortable with the chord transitions, muted chord progressions and syncopation with the lyrics. By the time we were through practicing the new song we’d learned, not only were we sounding great, but the energy in the room was extremely high. In fact, the energy was so high that member Vince demonstrated our collective enthusiasm by (almost) smashing his ukulele! Later in the evening, we filmed “Rock ‘n’ Roll All Nite” for our growing worldwide fanbase. 🙂
You can download the lyrics and chords for “Rock ‘n’ Roll All Nite” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project up on the wall for all to follow along).
Before the rocking and rolling got too out of control, we took a break to hear some wonderful music from open mic participants. With solo, group and duet efforts by Jack, Kevin Carroll’s Ukestra, John and Anna, Laura and David, and Helen who shared their talent with our very appreciative audience.
As always, we hope you’ll keep strumming and we look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on Thursday, June 9th, as well as our upcoming Ukulele Open Mic Night at the Rattle Inn on Thursday, June 16!
The April meeting of the Austin Ukulele Society was enjoyed by an enthusiastic and varied group of ukulele players. In honor of David Bowie’s recent passing, we paid tribute by learning to strum and sing “Ashes to Ashes.” Bob took the time to help the group get comfortable with some chords we don’t often see, breaking down the song and drilling the various chord progressions. He also taught us a picking part, so that some folks could pick while others strummed. When we put it all together and played it a few times through, we were all so pleased to see how great we sounded! In addition to learning “Ashes to Ashes,” we enjoyed our usual opening and closing songs, “Three Little Birds” and “On the Road Again.”
You can download the lyrics and chords for “Ashes to Ashes” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project up on the wall for all to follow along).
We were also treated to wonderful talent during the open mic portion of the meeting by Marie, Richard, Alex, Cranius, and brothers Sho and Shin.
As always, we look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on Thursday, May 12th!
A fantastic group of ukulele aficiandos and novices alike got together on a rainy spring evening to enjoy strumming and singing together. As always, we kicked things off with Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” Afterward, Bob led the group in learning some fun strumming patterns as we played and sang Lady Gaga’s 2011 megahit “The Edge of Glory.” It was an unfamiliar song for some, but after a bit of practice, the group sounded like they’d been singing along with Lady Gaga for years!
You can download the lyrics and chords for “The Edge of Glory” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project up on the wall for all to follow along).
As always, we enjoyed a wonderful variety of talented folks during the open mic portion of the eve – a hearty thank you to Janet, Kevin Carroll and his Ukestra, Anna and John, Richard, Sho, Walter and Helen for their terrific performances.
Additionally, we’d like to thank the talented Jacob Borshard for bringing fantastic silk screen prints of the upcoming “Uketania Forever” showcase, along with 3D glasses to use with the image. We hope to see you all on March 31st at the Sahara Lounge!
And, of course, we look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday, April 14th, back here for our monthly get-together.
A fantastic group of over 130 ukulele players got together to strum and sing a tunes during the Valentine’s week meeting. In keeping with our February meeting tradition, we focused on songs about love. Bob led us all in learning to strum and harmonize on the Beatles’ “She Loves You.” We also enjoyed the chance to revisit February 2013’s song “L.O.V.E” and another classic Beatles amorous tune, “Eight Days a Week.”
You can download the lyrics and chords for “She Loves You” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project up on the wall for all to follow along).
The group was treated to some great open mic performance songs, including a few great picks for Valentine’s week. A special thanks to Betty; Jay, Nancy and Raj; Kathy and Bill; Ian and Vince for sharing their talent with us.
Please join us on Thursday, March 10th, for our next meeting! 🙂
Members new and old gathered on a warm January evening to kick off the sixth year of the Austin Ukulele Society’s monthly meetings. At our first meeting back in January 2011, we had about 15 attendees, and at our January 2016 meeting, there were over 150! We have grown exponentially and love every minute of bringing together ukulele players of all ages and backgrounds.
Everyone enjoyed paying tribute to the one and only Frank Sinatra, who would’ve turned 100 years old in December, by learning to play and sing one of the standards he made famous, “Fly Me To the Moon.” Bob helped the group add some swingin’ style that would’ve made Ol’ Blue Eyes proud, with creative pauses and ‘doo-be doo-be dos.’ The group also enjoyed revisiting “Margaritaville” as well as our usual warm-up and closing songs, “Three Little Birds” and “On the Road Again.”
You can download the lyrics and chords for “Fly Me To the Moon” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project up on the wall for all to follow along).
As usual, the open mic portion of the evening impressed all, with a Tuesday Ukulele Group (TUG) ensemble performance of a ‘THE John Davenport’ original tune, an excellent cover of “Man of Constant Sorrow” by Ian, a TUG trio (Nancy, Jay and Raj) performance of “Bye, Bye Blackbird,” a sweet original ode to a best friend who’d passed by Richard, and great covers of Destiny’s Child by Matt and Steve Winwood by our leader, Bob. 🙂
We look forward to seeing you all at our next meeting on Thursday, February 11th! 🙂
Merry Christmas, Mele Kalikimaka, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noël, and Frohe Weihnachten! The Austin Ukulele Society’s December 10, 2015 meeting kept a great tradition going with our 5th (!) Annual Holiday Potluck and Jam at Susan and Ted’s lovely South Austin home. We enjoyed the chance to chat with old and new friends, eat and drink, and play ukulele music together!
We sang and played our holiday favorites. You can download a copy of our “Holiday Song Book” with the lyrics and chords for Christmas songs we’ve played together over the years. You can also strum along with us!
Here we are at our November meeting, playing the Hawaiian/hapa-haole classic “Mele Kalikimaka” with a touch of “Jingle Bells” added in for jolly good measure. We look forward to seeing everyone at our next meeting on Thursday, January 14th, 6:30–9:00pm as we kick off our 6th year together!!
The Austin Ukulele Society had a fabulous evening at the November meeting, as attendance reached an all-time high of around 150 players of all ages. All enjoyed the warm vibes of a Hawaiian-themed evening, as we learned “Mele Kalikimaka,” the way to say (and play and sing) Merry Christmas in Hawaiian. Additionally, we enjoyed revisiting and recording a lovely rendition of “What a Wonderful World” in the style of the late great ukulele master and vocalist Israel “Iz” Kamakawiwo’ole.
You can download the lyrics and chords for “What a Wonderful World” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project up on the wall for all to follow along).
We were all thrilled to be treated to a variety of musical styles and tunes during the open mic portion of the evening; a big thanks to Kevin Carroll’s Ukestra, Erin, Betty, Elizabeth, and Nancy and Jay!
We’re also very excited to announce that a fresh batch of Austin Ukulele Society t-shirts is here, with a brand new design for 2015!! Available now for $15!
We look forward to toasting the holiday season with you at our December potluck and strum-a-long Thursday, December 10, at Susan and Ted’s home in South Austin. Email austinukes @ gmail dot com for more information, if you are not already on our email list. 🙂
Austin Ukulele Society (AUS) 